no one can relate
by tinystarkitten
Summary: COMPLETE Ed and Al meet a girl who has been abused by her stepfather her whole life. But that abuse made her realize her gift. and she wants to convince skeptics that there are such things as miracles, and loved ones are always there. Hints and bits EdxOC
1. an unexpected collision

"What a quaint little town." Ed muttered sarcastically. He and Al were walking down what seemed to be the main street of the town they were in. the buildings were badly in need of repair and there was either a homeless person or a passed out drunk on every corner. The only place that seemed to be even the least bit cheery was a giant house perched on top of a hill, overlooking the desolate street.

"I wish there was more than one train that goes through here," Al complained. "Everyone is staring at me."

"You always get stares Al. it's not everyday people see a walking talking suit of armor." Ed replied.

"I guess you're right." Al answered, even though he still felt uneasy. He didn't like the way the people were staring at him. There was just something in their gaze that made him feel unwelcome. As Al thought about this, his brother was looking for a decent place to stay. The search was futile, though, as what seemed to be the only hotel in the whole town was missing its roof.

"Damn. This place doesn't even have somewhere for a guy to sleep."

"What was that brother?" Al asked, jarred from his thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself." Ed replied.

"No, not that. That noise." Al nodded in the direction where he had heard it. Ed listened.

"I don't hear anything Al." Ed sighed.

"There it is again!" Al half-shouted.

"Look, Al, I don't hear anything, so whatever it is you seem to be hearing either isn't there or-" he was cut off by a scream. "What the hell was that?!"

He was answered by a girl charging headlong into him. The two toppled to the ground, landing in an awkward position. The girl blushed and immediately stood and helped Ed up.

"I-I'm so sorry." The girl stuttered, brushing herself off.

"Was that you that screamed?" Al asked. The girl looked up to see a metal suit looking down at her. She was confused for a moment that a metal suit could talk, but shook it off quickly.

"Yeah." She answered.

"Is something wrong?" Al asked.

"Yeah something's wrong. I'm being chased, that's what wrong. Look, could one of you please help me? You're Alchemists, aren't you?" She told them in one breath.

"I don't know. I mean, we're having problems ourselves right now." Ed told her. The girl sighed.

"Please? I'll give you anything you want." She offered. Ed raised an eyebrow.

"Anything?" He asked.

"Yes, anything. Now hurry up. They're coming." She told him.

"I don't know..."

"Come on brother." Al looked down at Ed.

"Well..."

"Oh gawd." The girl looked exasperated. Ed was stroking his chin now, and he looked ridiculous doing so. Suddenly, though, more shouts could be heard from the direction that the girl came from. Three men appeared, running toward the three. The girl jumped behind Al almost instinctively upon seeing them.

"Hey! Kid! You seen a girl run by here?" one of men asked Ed, stopping in front of him to catch his breath. Ed looked back at the girl hiding behind his brother. She shook her head furiously in response.

"Nope." Ed lied. He heard a relieved sigh come from the girl.

"No?" another man asked. "Well then, what's that behind the suit?"

"I'm not a robot." Al protested.

"Cripes! It talks!" The last man said in amazement. "How'd you get it to do that kid?"

"I'm not an it." Al told them.

"'Fraid he's right. He's not an it." Ed agreed.

"Well, than what is it?" The first man asked.

"_He's _my little brother." Ed told them. The three men started laughing.

"Your little brother? Now that's funny." The first man laughed.

"He is." Ed said, looking half offended and half confused.

"Nice prank kid, I needed a laugh." The third man said, trying to breathe through his laughter

"but-" Al started to protest, but the men started leaving.

"See ya kid." The second man said as the three went off, still chuckling.

"I don't get it. Why'd they laugh? I can see not thinking Ed and I are brothers, but did they have to laugh about it?" Al asked innocently.

"It's because they're inconsiderate bastards." The girl said, glaring in the direction the men left in. "Come on. You look hungry." She led them down the street, around a few corners, and stood in front of a semi-decent looking building with an illegible sign hanging above it.

"Hazel! Out again, I see." The man behind the drink counter greeted the girl cheerfully as she led them inside.

"Hello Mr. Miller!" Hazel greeted just as cheerfully, taking a seat at the counter.

"Um, aren't you underage?" Ed asked, confused as to why the girl was sitting at a bar.

"Oh, it's okay. Mr. Miller's known me forever. He doesn't care if I sit at the bar. After all, I've been doing since I was four" Hazel informed him, smiling. She patted the stool next to her. "Come sit" she offered. Ed obeyed and sat on the stool as Al just stood where he was.

"What about you?" Mr. Miller asked the talking suit.

"Oh, that's okay, I might break a stool if I tried to sit in it." Al refused politely.

"Suit yourself A/N: does bad pun dance." He turned to Hazel and Ed. "What'll it be? The usual for you Hazel, I know, but how 'bout the guest?"

"I don't know..." Ed said, rubbing the back of his head, "Whatever she's having, I guess."

"Sure thing." Mr. Miller said, turning away to make the drinks.

"Ehm, what exactly is your 'usual'?" Ed asked nervously, turning to Hazel.

"Don't worry, it's non-alcoholic. But it tastes really citrus-y. I like it." Hazel said, smiling.

"Hey kid, how old are you anyway? Ten? Eleven?" Mr. Miller asked over his shoulder. Ed's jaw dropped.

"I'M 15! AND WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE ISN'T EVEN AS TALL AS A SINGLE-CELLED ORGANISM!?!?!?" Ed exclaimed, jumping out of his seat and knocking his stool down in the process.

"N-now clam down brother, he didn't really say you're short." Al said, trying to calm his brother.

"Oh, so now YOU'RE against me too Al? In case you forgot, despite the height of that suit I'm still your older brother!" Ed said angrily.

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Al said, putting his hands up. Ed looked like he was going to dismantle his brother, but a jerk on the back of his head stopped him.

"Sit down, the drinks are ready." came Hazel's voice from behind him. Ed looked back to see she had a hold on his braid.

"Gimme that back!" he said, pulling it away from her grasp. He stood his stool upright and sat on it. The drink he saw in front of him was bright orange, but gave off a peculiar smell of strawberries. He looked oddly at it, wondering if it was poisoned.

"Just drink it." Hazel sighed, already starting on hers. Ed gingerly took a small sip. But he was surprised at how good it tasted. He chugged the rest down in one gulp. Hazel saw this and couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

"You seem happy Hazel." Mr. Miller told her while handing Ed another drink. "This boy special or something?" Hazel blushed at Mr. Miller's last statement.

"Please, I only just met him a few minutes ago. I don't even know his name." Hazel saved herself.

"It's Ed." Ed told her, putting down an empty glass. "And this tin can here is Al." he finished, patting Al's back.

"Pleased to know you. I'm Hazel, if you haven't noticed." She shook Ed's and Al's hands.

"How nice for Hazel to meet a nice young man her age." Mr. Miller said, filling Ed's empty glass. Ed and Hazel both blushed at his comment.

"I'm sorry Ed. Mr. Miller likes to flirt for me." Hazel said to save herself.

"Ah, it's okay." Ed reassured her, drinking his drink slower this time.

"Hey Hazel?" Al asked, "I want to know something."

"Hm? Oh, sure. What is it?" Hazel said, turning to face him.

"Why were those guys chasing you? Did you steal something from them or something?" He inquired. Hazel's eyes grew dark at his question.

"Shall I explain Hazel?" Mr. Miller offered, but Hazel shook her head.

"No, I'll do it. You see Al, I'm an orphan. My father committed suicide before I was born because my mother was having an affair with another man. My mother died when I was being born and left me in the care of her fiancé at the time, the man she was having an affair with when my father died. You see, my home is that mansion on that hill above town. It's also the prison I've been tortured in for fifteen years." She paused to take breath and saw Ed looking into his glass. "From the moment my mother died, my 'father', as he makes me call him, has abused me and neglected me, blaming me for my mother's death."

"That's awful." Al commented, pity in his voice.

"So why don't you run away?" Ed asked, still staring into his almost-empty glass.

"What do think I was doing today you idiot?" Hazel spat, turning to him and holding back the urge to punch his head in. "And I've been trying, since I could walk. Unfortunately, I've failed every time. My father always threatens me with death if I run away again, but I don't care. I'm gonna leave that hell hole or die, I decided on that years ago and I'm gonna stick to it." She fell silent and stared into her warming drink.

"I've considered adopting her, but her father won't give her up. I guess he really wants revenge for Hazel's mother." Mr. Miller said, taking Hazel's glass.

"But can't you do something? Call the police?" Al asked, now worry in his voice.

"He IS the police. He's this whole damn town. We don't have a mayor, we have a dictator. And that's my father." Hazel said grimly, not looking up. There was awkward silence for a moment when something caught her eye. A silver chain hanging by Ed's pants. _A state alchemist?_ she thought, _I didn't see that..._

"You don't have our pity you know." Ed told her, looking her in the eyes. "We've lost our mother too, not to mention Al lost his body and I lost an arm and a leg, just trying to bring her back."

"Brother-" Al started, but Hazel cut him off.

"When did I ask for your pity?" she said, slightly offended. She stood up and walked out of the bar, Ed thought he saw tears in her eyes.

"Hazel!" Mr. Miller called after her. He sighed and looked at the brothers. "You'll have to forgive her. She hates it when people don't even try to understand her pain. I guess you could say she's a little selfish." At that, Ed got up and walked out of the bar also.

"Oh dear." Al said. He reached to pay Mr. Miller for the drinks, but Mr. Miller put his hand up.

"Keep it. If you're one of Hazel's friends, all drinks are on the house." The bartender said kindly.

"Thank you." Al said politely before running off to find his brother


	2. shortass pipsqueak

Um, yeah, I extended the last chapter a bit, so you may want to go back and read that part before reading this, if you haven't already, or you'll be very deeply confused.

-

"Brother?" Al called with worry in his voice. He had been searching for about half an hour, in which time he had passed the bar twice, so he was thoroughly lost. He knew Ed was probably looking for Hazel, and if he was, he wasn't going to stop until he found her. Al sighed and was about to head back to the bar when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Looking for your brother?" came Hazel's voice. Al turned around to face the girl. She was looking up at him and he could tell she had been crying.

"Hazel, is something wrong?" He asked gingerly.

"Come on, I'll help you find Ed." Hazel said, ignoring Al's question. She turned around and walked off, the giant suit following her.

They searched everywhere, behind buildings and what was left of buildings, alleyways. A few times, Hazel thought she saw a red coat or a blonde braid around the corner, but there was never one really there. She had started to wonder if Ed was even still in the town when Al spoke up.

"Hazel?" He asked, looking down at her.

"Hm?" she said, looking back up at him.

"Well, I've been meaning to ask you, when you bumped into us, how did you know Ed and I were alchemists?"

"I knew one of you was going to ask me that." Hazel sighed. "You see, there's a thing about that. This might sound stupid to an alchemist like you, but I can sort of see into the future. Sometimes. Look, I'm not saying I'm some fortune-teller person but-"

"Really?" Al asked. His voice had the enthusiasm of a small child in front of a candy store.

"Um, yeah. Wait, you believe me?" Hazel said confused.

"Of course I believe you. Why would you lie?" He told her innocently.

"But I thought alchemists didn't believe in that kind of stuff." She was really confused now.

"I do. A lot of people don't, like my brother, but I do." Al told the girl.

"Damn straight I don't." came a voice from behind them. The two wheeled around to face Ed.

"Brother!" Al gasped.

"Don't believe a word she says Al. You know there's no way people can see into the future." Ed said, glaring at Hazel.

"How can you know? Just because you can't doesn't mean that no one can." She snapped back.

"Come on Al." Ed said, turning and walking away.

"Oh, shorty doesn't have a comeback?" Hazel called, a smirk appearing on her face as she crossed her arms.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?" Ed was suddenly less than an inch away from her face, and so it was especially clear that he was resisting grabbing her neck and breaking every bone in it.

"Short of course. You are after all." She told him coolly, her smirk growing.

"Brother, don't-" Al pleaded, but he didn't seem to be heard.

"You're just a short little boy. I'm surprised they even let someone of your height become a state Alchemist. Or perhaps that watch you have is a fake?" she asked.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Ed went to hit her with his metal arm, but was surprised when it didn't hit anything. It took a moment to sink in that he _hadn't_ hit anything, but once that moment was up, he felt someone grab him around the neck.

"Aw, shorty can't even hit a girl." Hazel hissed in his ear. Ed swung his arm behind him, but missed again. He looked around, trying to find her, but to no avail.

"Shorty lookin' for me?" Hazel asked, peeking her head out from behind Al.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Ed shouted, running towards her.

"Leave her alone brother, she's not trying to hurt you." Al said, stepping in front of the raging boy.

"She's just trying to piss me off! Let me at her!" Ed told his brother, trying to get around him.

"No brother. Leave her alone." Al repeated, stepping in his brother's way whenever he tried to get to Hazel.

"Yeah, leave me alone. I didn't do anything." Hazel whimpered with mock innocence, peeking her head out again. She ducked, nearly getting hit by Ed's arm.

"You little! Stay still dammit!" Ed shouted in frustration, trying to hit her again.

"STOP IT!" Al shouted. Ed and Hazel looked at Al with slight fear, seeing as he rarely yelled, at least with such authority in his voice.

"Um, Al?" Ed asked, looking up at his little brother. Al looked back down and saw his brother's expression.

"Oops. I'm sorry about that." Al said, and then turned to Hazel. "I don't do things like that normally."

"U-um, i-it's alright." she stuttered, still shocked by Al's outburst. For a moment, he had actually seemed threatening. It scared her.

"Hazel?" came Ed's voice from the other side of Al. the girl walked over to him.

"You called?" she asked, expecting an apology.

"Do you know what time the next train is going to come in tomorrow?"

Hazel practically fell down at that.

"WHAT DO MEAN 'DO I KNOW WHAT TIME THE NEXT TRAIN IS GOING TO COME IN TOMORROW?'" she screamed in his face.

"Just that." He answered. Hazel sighed. Of course he wouldn't apologize for not believing her powers. Calling him short wouldn't change what he thought.

"Oh, well, the train comes in and out everyday at the same time." She answered, her head bowed in shame of her own stupidity. But then a thought struck her and she lifted her head up. "Why'd you get off anyway? What business would you have here?"

"We just got off at the wrong stop, what can I say?" Ed lied. He knew that wasn't it. He was fully aware he wasn't supposed to get off for another two stops. But for some reason, he knew he had to get off here. He knew that there was something that needed to be done here.

"Well, either way, you're going to need someplace to stay the night. You can go back to Mr. Miller's place if you want. That's where I'm going to go if I can avoid my father's lackeys." Hazel told him. She started walking in that direction then looked over her shoulder. "By the way," she said, "You might want to head over to the train station and go to the payphone."

Ed stared at her for a moment as she walked off, her short, brown, wavy hair bouncing on her shoulders. _How odd._ He thought before turning to Al. "Let's go." He said, walking in the other direction

"To where brother?" Al asked.

"The train station, where else?" Ed answered.

"Oh, I get it." Al said mischievously. "Finally believe in Hazel's powers?"

Ed stayed silent, but continued walking. _We'll see what that girl can really do. _He thought.

**MOMENTS LATER!**

"Mr. Miller!" Hazel called as she walked into the bar. There was no one there. "Mr. Miller?" she called again.

"HEY HAZEL!"

Hazel was nearly knocked down by the force of a small body pummeling itself at her back.

"Ugh. Get off of me David." She groaned to the small boy clinging to her back. He obeyed. "Where's your Dad?" she asked him.

"Daddy said he had a headache and went up to his room to sleep. He said not to bother him." David answered.

"Again? He seems to have been getting headaches a lot lately, huh?" she asked to herself. David nodded. Hazel looked down at the five-year-old with slight pity. The young boy had an automail left arm that had to be replaced every six months or so. He would always shriek like a banshee when it was being put on. Hazel hated seeing him like that. And it was almost that time again

"David?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah?" he responded.

"Um, nothing." She turned her head away.

**MEANWHILE!**

A phone rang. Ed jumped at the sound, he had nearly dozed off waiting for it. He picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Full Metal?" came the voice at the other end.

_Shit, _Ed thought to himself, _it's the colonel. _"Yeah, what?" he asked.

"Okay it is you. I was worried for a few minutes there. Why aren't you at the place that you're supposed to be?" the colonel asked. His voice didn't sound very worried though.

"Look, Al and I got off at the wrong stop, alright? We'll be on our way as soon as we can colonel." Ed sighed.

"And when will that be?" Roy Mustang asked expectantly.

"Not until tomorrow. Only one train comes through each day." Ed answered, sounding annoyed.

"Okay then. I expect you to check back in tomorrow." Mustang said. He was about to hang up when Ed's voice stopped him.

"How'd you know the number?" it asked. Roy hung up however, pretending he didn't hear it. But it was a good question. How _did _he know what number to dial?

"Brother?" Al asked. Ed turned to his brother, his face white as a sheet. "You look like you saw a ghost! What did he say?"

"That's not important Al. What I'm worried about is how she knew."

"How who knew what?" Al asked.

"How Hazel knew the colonel was going to call." At that, Ed turned and ran off in the direction of the bar.

**MOMENTS LATER!**

Hazel sat at the bar, drinking her regular drink.

"You're getting better at making these everyday!" she complimented David. She took another sip and cringed at how sour it was. David smiled, his head barely visible above the bar despite the fact he was standing on a stool.

_He's not going to grow to be much taller than Ed._ She thought with a smile. At that moment, however, she turned to see Ed come bursting through the door, Al right behind him. _Speak of the devil._

"Hazel!" Ed called rushing towards her and grabbing her shoulders.

"EW!" David half-shouted from behind the counter, "Hazel, kiss your boyfriend outside!"

"Boyfriend?" Hazel asked.

"Kiss?" Ed asked. Both of their eyes were the size of dinner plates and they were both blushing.

"Yeah, weren't you two going to kiss just now?" David queried, standing on his tiptoes on the stool, although it didn't make him seem to be all that much taller.

"NO! OF COURSE NOT!" The two answered in unison, Ed immediately dropping his hands. But somehow their faces got even redder.

David smiled mischievously in the way little boys often do. "So, do you want something to drink mister?" He put his arms up on the bar and rested his head on them. Ed noticed his arm.

"Refuse. He can't make drinks." Hazel whispered quietly enough so that only Ed would hear. He nodded.

"Um, no thanks." He saw David pout a little. "Hey, cool arm. I got one too." He said, rolling up his right sleeve to reveal the shiny automail.

"Wow! That's so cool! I thought I was the only one!" David said excitedly.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool isn't it?" Ed gloated. Hazel coughed and it sounded suspiciously like "cocky". Al chuckled at that.

"When do you have to get a new one?" David asked.

"A new one?" Ed looked puzzled.

"Yeah, I have to get new ones all the time or my arms look funny." David said.

"Oh, because you're still growing, right?" Ed asked. David nodded.

"Unfortunately for Ed, he's never going to grow anymore. At least that means he doesn't have to replace his arm all the time." Hazel commented with a smirk. Al had to hold his brother back from beating her.

But unfortunately between Ed's commotion and the other's laughter, no one heard the gun cock.


	3. meeting Hazel's stepfather

Bwahaha. I was evil with that last chappie, wasn't I >:D

* * *

Hazel opened her eyes and found herself in what was possibly the cleanest building in the town, the hospital. She groaned and caught the attention of a nurse who was folding blankets as quietly as she could so as not to disturb the patient. She looked over her shoulder at the girl and smiled sweetly. 

"Finally awake?" she asked in a voice as overly sweet as her smile. Before Hazel could answer, the nurse spoke again. "I'll go get your friends." She put down the blankets and stepped outside. Hazel closed her eyes and tried to remember what had just happened. She remembered Ed spazzing from being called short yet again, and then she remembered sensing something behind her, then a clang of metal on metal, and then... nothing.

"Hazel!" came Al's voice from not too far. The girl opened her eyes to see David, Mr. Miller, Edward, and Alphonse all standing in the doorway to her room. Upon seeing her awake, David's face spit into a huge smile and he ran as fast as he could to her bedside. He probably would have jumped on the bed if it weren't for the miniature railings on the sides.

"Hazel's okay! Daddy, Hazel's okay!" the boy said excitedly, his head turning to Mr. Miller, to Hazel and back again.

"You're going to get whiplash if you keep doing that." Hazel said weakly. She tried to sit up, but immediately got very dizzy and had to lie back down.

"You don't want to do that sweetie." Came the nurse's voice from behind Mr. Miller, "That's a nasty wound in your head." She pushed the man out of the way and walked into the room. She then busied herself with the blankets again.

_Nasty wound?_ Hazel touched one side of her forehead and found gauze. It was moist with blood.

"What happened?" she asked, rolling onto her side to face everyone. David looked at his feet and the others' faces became solemn.

"You were shot at." Al said finally. Hazel's eyes widened, but then she relaxed as she thought of something.

"In the head? No way, I'd be dead if that had happened." She told him.

"Well, actually, the bullet hit David's arm, and it ricocheted over to you. The angle caused it to just graze your forehead, but it still knocked you unconscious." Ed told her. Hazel blinked. It must have been the bullet she had sensed behind her, and the clang must have been it hitting David's automail. She considered shaking her head, but decided that wouldn't be good so she just looked at Al.

Somehow she had managed to be completely ignorant of the fact that he was a metal suit armor until that moment. Hazel stared at him. How could a suit of armor be someone's _brother_? She knew there had to be some reason buried in the brothers' past that would explain it (and probably Edward's automail too), but that was one thing her vision hadn't told her. Alphonse was a certainly well-made suit of armor. A bit dirty, but anyone got dirty after spending more than five minutes in this little town. She imagined what he must look like when he was clean and shiny.

"Um, is something wrong with me?" came Al's voice, jarring Hazel from her thoughts.

"Oh, um, no, sorry." She saved herself, nearly blushing. She rubbed the side of her head that wasn't covered in gauze. Suddenly, though, she heard footsteps from out in the hall that sounded as though their owner was running.

"Excuse me, please, I need to get through here." Came a voice all too familiar to Hazel. A man pushed his way past Mr. Miller and between the Elrics. He came to a stop by Hazel's bedside after pushing David away without even looking at him. He was handsome, definitely, and pretty tall – over six feet – but Hazel knew what he really was.

"Oh, my precious daughter! I got here as quickly as I could the moment I heard you had been hurt!" the man cried, throwing his arms around the girl and hugging her so that she was forced into a sitting position, which made her feel nauseous. Ed was painfully reminded of Maes Hughes for some reason.

The man tuned on his heel to face Mr. Miller.

"How could you let something like this happen to my daughter? I should put your little bar out of business for this." He warned the bartender. Mr. Miller looked at his feet.

"I-I'm sorry sir. I fell asleep, you see, and I don't know how this might have happened, and-"

"No excuses!" the man shouted. He then turned on the Elric brothers. "And just who the hell are you two?" he demanded. Al tried to shrink into the shadows, but Ed stepped up to the man.

"I'm Edward Elric. That's my younger brother Alphonse." He informed Hazel's stepfather, trying to look as tall as possible. The older man noticed Ed's silver watch.

"What business would you have in our town?" He asked.

"We got off at the wrong stop. We'll be on our way tomorrow when the next train comes into the station." Edward said, looking up at the man. At those words, the man's face started to lighten up.

"Well in that case, you may stay here as long as you like. We don't get outsiders very often, especially State Alchemists. You'll have to forgive me for being suspicious. My name is Michael Johnston, and I'm Hazel's father. Are you friends of hers?" He asked, smiling.

"Eh, you could say that. I mean, we just met her today so it's not like we know her all that well." Edward said, trying to sound casual. Michael just smiled and turned to the nurse.

"Well, if it's alright, I'll just take her home now." He said. The nurse looked up and smiled in her overly sweet smile.

"Of course sir. Just make sure she gets plenty of rest and doesn't move around." The nurse told him.

Michael picked Hazel up and held her like how one would hold a new born infant. He walked past everyone and out the door, holding his stepdaughter's head so that she could not look back at anyone in the room.

"Bye Hazel." David said quietly after she and her stepfather had left.

"Don't bother son, she can't hear you anymore." Mr. Miller informed the boy, looking down.

"Brother, do you think she'll be alright?" Al asked, stepping out of the shadows.

Edward said nothing.

**MOMENTS LATER!**

Michael put Hazel down in her massive bed.

"You stupid bitch." He spat at her. "I told you to never leave the house without an escort again. But you did. And what do you do once you get out? YOU GO AND MAKE FRIENDS!"

Hazel buried her head under the covers, trying hard not to hear her stepfather's words.

"You don't deserve friends, how many times do I have to tell you that? You killed your own mother, so you have to pay. And if you get one drop of blood on those covers little girl, you're going to wish that bullet had killed you!" He yelled as she completely covered her head. When she didn't respond, he spat in the bit of her hair that he could see peeking out of covers and walked out.

Hazel just lied there, feeling the slime slide down her scalp towards the pillow. She couldn't help but wonder what Ed and Al were doing, if they were having a better time than she was. Wait. Of course they were having a better time than she was. _They_ most likely deserved to have friends. _They_ didn't kill their mother. _Their _mother was probably still alive.

She felt the spit hit her pillow.

**MEANWHILE!**

Ed patted the back of his head, he could have sworn there was a drop of water rolling down it. But there wasn't, so he ignored the feeling. He and Al were following Mr. Miller back to the bar, David lagging behind slightly.

"Is something wrong David?" Al asked, looking at the little boy. David looked up at the suit of armor.

"I miss Hazel mr. metal man." He answered. Al sweat dropped at what the boy called him.

"I'm sure Hazel's going to be back very soon. Don't worry." He reassured him, although he wasn't exactly positive himself. She wasn't supposed to be out in the first place and she had been caught.

"No she won't. Hazel never comes back right after her daddy finds her. And if she does, she's a lot of the times with a big man that won't let me play with her. It's not fair." David told him, crossing his arms and staring hatefully at the ground.

Al inwardly smiled and remembered times before his mother had died, when he still had a body, and he and Ed would play with Winry. He hated when they had to go inside for the night, or if one of them was sick and they couldn't play. His reactions were often very similar to David's.

"Al! David! Come on, you're lagging behind!" came Ed's voice. The two looked up and realized that they had stopped walking and Ed and Mr. Miller had gotten ahead.

"Coming!" Al called. He looked down at David who was still staring at the ground. "Let's go." He said to the boy.

"No. I'm not going nowhere without Hazel." He declared, jutting his bottom lip out as far as it would go.

"David..." Al sighed.

"I'm not going nowhere." The boy repeated, stamping his foot into the dirty street, causing little puffs of dust to swirl around his foot. Al sighed again as he heard his brother call out for them.

"Well, if you're not going to come on your own, I'll just make you." He declared, picking David up and carrying him all the rest of the way to the bar.

Once they had all gotten inside, Mr. Miller instinctively went behind the counter to fix Ed a drink.

"So, you really got off at the wrong stop kid?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, what can I say? These things happen, right?" Ed replied, shrugging and trying to look cool. Al inwardly rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess. But it's like Michael said. We don't get outsiders very often, let alone State Alchemists. Why, last time one of you guys came to our town, it turned out that there had been a mass murderer hiding out in our town for the past three years. Of course that was a long time ago, I don't think David had even been born yet." Mr. Miller patted his son's head and handed Ed his drink.

"Is Hazel going to be alright?" Al suddenly piped up. "I mean, she said her stepfather abuses her, and he caught her. Is he going to do anything to her?"

"Ah, don't worry. Hazel's been able to live with that man her whole life, and she's still alive." Mr. Miller pointed out.

"Yeah Al. Besides, what can he do with a state alchemist in the town?" Edward said with a rather cocky tone.

"I guess you're right." Al said, although it still didn't feel very reassuring.

**MEANWHILE!**

Hazel was sitting up in bed, brushing her hair. Her wound had nearly stopped bleeding and it didn't make her feel dizzy to sit up anymore. In fact she could even stand up, although she did have to suffer vertigo for a few moments.

_That's the only good thing about head wounds. _She thought,_ they're mostly just blood. Besides, father has hurt me worse than this. _She poked the gauze on her wound.

Hazel looked out the window. The sun was setting. Just a few more hours and she could sneak out undetected. Except this time she wasn't going lie on the roof and stargaze like she usually did. Those Elrics were going to help her escape this town for good, and dammit, she was going to make sure of that. As soon as it got dark...

She looked out of her window again. The sun was now completely behind the hill that she could see from outside her window, the sky was a vibrant pinkish orange.

_Just a few more hours, Hazel, just a few more hours._

**LATER!**

Edward stared at the ceiling above the lumpy, dusty bed he was laying on. Mr. Miller had been kind enough to offer them a room above the bar, and he and Al graciously accepted.

It was getting darker and darker outside, stars were starting to appear in the sky. Ed could already hear the voices of drunks below in the bar, but thoughts of Hazel kept drowning out the babbling. Was she alright? Had her father done anything to her? Was her head alright? Why did he care so much? Was it love? No, no. it wasn't that. He just felt like she needed to be protected.

He got up and walked over to Al's bed.

"Al." he whispered. "You awake?'

"It's not that late brother." Al said, sitting up. He looked at his brother. "You're thinking about Hazel too?"

Ed nodded.

"Let's go." The older brother said, putting his red coat on.

"Go? Where?" Al asked, standing up.

"Where else? To go help Hazel."

* * *

:tears: I can't come up with decent last names. I mean, Miller? Johnston? Those were names of my teachers last year! 


	4. meeting in the woods

"B-brother? Where are we?" Al stammered, keeping close to Ed as they made their way through the darkness.

"The hell if I know Al. If it were daytime I might be able to tell, but I guess when it gets dark around here, it gets DARK." Ed told his brother, his arms out so he could feel for anything in front of him.

The brothers had made it away from buildings and were now surrounded by trees. Not exactly a forest, but something close. Either way it was just out of town and for whatever reason, they both had the notion that Hazel was somewhere in the direction they were going, which was why they had been calling her name for the past hour.

Then Edward heard something. It was like Hazel was calling their names, but it wasn't his ears that were hearing it. He was hearing her in his head. Then he saw her. Only for a split second, but she was sitting in a clearing, moonlight making silver highlights in her hair. She was looking at him, and her eyes were filled with relief. As soon as she disappeared, Ed knew exactly where she was.

"C'mon Al." was all he said before taking off through the trees.

They ran for a few minutes, twisting through the trees and passing the same place more than once. Ed eventually did stop running, however, and when that happened, he stopped so suddenly that Al nearly ran into him.

"Where is she?" Ed asked, stepping into the clearing he had just found. It was the same one in his vision.

"Where is who, brother? Hazel?" Al asked, obviously confused. "Why'd you think she'd be here?"

"But... I thought I saw..." Ed's voice trailed off as he tried to remember if this was the right spot.

Suddenly, a hand reached out and touched Ed's flesh shoulder. The boy spun around and was nose to nose with a person.

"BOOGLY BOOGLY!" the person shouted. Ed screamed extremely loud and then ran backwards, running into a tree and falling down.

"HAHAHA! You sound like a girl when you scream like that Ed!" Hazel laughed.

"You bitch! Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Edward shouted at her, getting up and brushing himself off. Hazel didn't hear him though, she was doubled over with laughter.

"That scream was too priceless Ed, too priceless." Hazel choked out. She was now holding onto Al for support.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" Ed yelled. He clapped his hands together and put them on the tree behind him, turning the whole thing into a... coat rack? "WHAT THE HELL?" he shouted.

"Ed... Ed st-stop... I... I can't... can't breathe..." Hazel had tears streaming down her face from her laughter.

"FINE THEN!" Edward picked up the coat rack and swung it at Hazel's head, but she collapsed from laughter at just the right moment to miss being hit by the tiny man's rage.

But once the coat rack had made it all the way around, Edward lost his balance and stumbled a few feet before falling. When he had regained his senses, he realized the he had fallen on top of Hazel, who wasn't laughing anymore. In fact, she looked very, very mad. He wondered for a second what it might be before he realized what it was. His flesh hand had landed perfectly on her breast.

"YOU PERVERT!" she screamed, kicking the teen as hard as she could. Fortunately for him, it was in the stomach, and not anywhere lower. Edward fell on his back at least five feet away from her as she got up.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident! I didn't mean to grope you!" He defended himself, putting his metal arm in front of him as Hazel started walking toward him, a menacing gleam in her eye.

"Hazel, please don't hurt him! You know it was an accident!" Al piped up, distracting the girl for a moment. Long enough for Ed to scramble to his feet and climb up a tree so she couldn't reach him.

"Get down from there you coward!" Hazel shouted when she realized where Ed had gone to.

"No way!" Ed called back, "I like it up here! I feel tall!"

"Get down here strawberry short cake, and fight me like the man you aren't!" Hazel shouted, trying to get him mad.

"Like that's gonna bother me this time! I'm actually looking _down _on my brother for once!" Ed was obviously very happy about his newfound perch.

Below, Hazel crossed her arms and grumbled in defeat. _Damn that Elric._ She thought.

"Hazel?" Al asked tentatively.

"Yeah, what is it?" Hazel replied, sounding very annoyed.

"Well, the reason we came out here was to make sure that you're okay. You are, aren't you?" Al asked.

"What? Oh, yeah I'm fine. It's not like it was anything serious, I mean, I've gotten hurt a lot worse before." She assured him, rubbing the side of her head that still had gauze. She thought she heard a little gasp come the suit of armor. She smirked at Al's surprise and turned to face Ed's tree to try to get him to come down.

The moment Hazel was facing the tree, however, an upside down Edward face appeared in front of her, causing her to scream.

"Haha! Got you!" Edward laughed, jumping off of the tree, and doing a weird somersault in the air to land on his feet.

"Hey, at least I have an excuse to scream like a girl." Hazel mumbled. She stood there a moment, hating Edward for surprising her like that, when she felt his hand touch her shoulder. She looked into his golden eyes and felt a little uncomfortable.

"That is why we came to find you though. We were worried about you. You're alright, right? I mean he didn't hurt you anything?" Ed asked, staring into her eyes.

"Heh, don't worry. Just got a few ugly words, that's all. He didn't actually hurt me, he just spit in my hair." She told him, smiling. Ed immediately felt like there was water on the back of his head again. He patted the spot to make sure nothing was there, and when there wasn't, he turned his attention back to Hazel.

"So, why did you call me here? To this spot, I mean." He asked. Hazel blinked a few times, and then looked at Al.

"Did you see it too?" she asked him.

"See what?" the younger brother asked, obviously confused. It had been bad enough that his brother had dragged him to their current location, being led by some unseen force, but now Hazel was making it seem like SHE was that force.

"I guess not then." She bowed her head. "Truthfully, I don't know exactly what you saw. Hell, I had no clue that you even saw anything until just now. I mean, I tried to call you, but I can't ever be sure of anything when I try to contact people that way. You must have no idea what I'm saying, huh?" she looked up at the brothers. They looked completely clueless. Well, Ed did, anyway. It was hard to tell what Al was thinking, seeing as he was a metal suit of armor on the outside.

"Wait a minute." Ed said suddenly, "You mean to tell me that you called me here using your 'psychic powers'? I don't believe you." He crossed his arms and glared at her.

"Brother," Al sighed, fearing a repeat performance of that afternoon.

"What, Al? She has no special powers. She can't talk to us using her brain, that's impossible." Ed protested.

"Edward." Hazel said sternly, causing the boy to jump slightly, "Look, I know that you and your brother have lost someone close to you. I didn't when I first met you, but I can tell, now that I've spent more time with you. And I know how you feel." Her voice had been becoming softer with every word. Edward's arms had dropped to his sides somewhere during her speech and his face wore an expression of utter disbelief.

"You mean to tell me that you know about our mom?" he asked, his voice shaking. But not with anything that would normally be perceived as a good thing. His voice was shaking out of pure anger. "How dare you say that. You have no idea about what happened to our mom. Your 'psychic powers' can't give you any clue about how we felt, or how we still feel. Your 'powers' can't tell you why we did what we did to try to bring her back. And don't you dare ever say that you know how we feel. You have no idea. YOU HAVE NO_ IDEA_!" The boy now had tears in his eyes. He fell to his knees and looked at the ground, his tears making little dark patches on the soil. "You never knew your mother," He choked, his voice now barely audible. "You don't know the pain we felt, watching her die. Hearing her say that she wanted to see our father. A dying wish that was never granted. And you say that you know that pain. That's a bunch of bullshit." He pounded his metal fist into the ground, making his white glove dirty. Hazel knelt down in front of him and touched his shoulder, but he shook her off.

"Edward." She said quietly. When there was no response, she stood up and faced Al. "I guess I'll just have to tell this to you then. Is that okay?" Al nodded, lost for words at his brother's melt down. "Well, my mother also had a dying wish that was never granted. She wanted to see me grow up and to live a happy life. That's why she almost got married to my stepfather. He was rich and my mother knew that living with him would give me the best life possible. Guess that backfired though."

"How do you know this?" Al asked, curious as to how Hazel could know so much about a dead mother that she had never known.

"Diary. I found it one day rummaging through her old things. Boy that got me quite a few lashes." It was odd. The girl was talking about it all in an almost happy tone.

"How can you say those things?" Al asked her.

"Hm?"

"Well, you're talking about your mother, whom you've never even met, and about what your step father did to you, but your voice sounds... nearly, well, happy. How can you laugh about such terrible things?" The younger brother's voice was a mixture of worry and confusion.

"Well, aren't you just a bundle of sunshine?" Hazel asked him, hands on her hips.

"You don't even have any remorse for your own mother. That's sick." Came Ed's voice, turning the attention of the other two to him. Hazel smiled.

"I don't have any remorse because I know my mother. Al, you said that I've never met her. In reality, she talks to me all the time." She told the brothers. They both looked at her, even Ed, although he stayed on the ground. "Let me tell you a little tale." She said.

* * *

"You little bitch! Don't you EVER say things like that when company is over again!" The only father that I've ever known hollered at me as I was thrown across the room.

_What did I do this time? _I asked myself, tears rolling down my face already.

Father's friend had asked me what I get taught, since I'm home schooled. I told him that I try to learn what I can, but whenever I mess up, father will yell at me. That's all. I just answered the question, what's so bad about that? Something that my five-year-old brain could not understand at the time, obviously.

As soon as our guests had left, father turned on me. He started saying bad things and hitting me. It hurt more than normal and I started crying immediately. Apparently, that only got him even more angry, as he started hitting me more and then took me down to the basement. I hated in there. It was dark and scary and it felt like anything could pop out and get me.

Eventually, father left me alone in the dark and I started crying louder. It seemed even darker in there than normal that day. I was really scared until I heard a voice. It was soft and comforting.

_My daughter, it's okay. I'm here for you. I always will be, whenever you need me._

That was all it said, but I felt better the second I heard it. And I still do, every time.

* * *

The brothers were speechless. Not even Ed could find any words to contradict her. Hazel walked over to the older brother and helped him up.

"You really miss your mother, don't you?" she asked him, staring HIM in the eyes this time. "If you want, I can let her talk to you. But you have to believe in me."

"No way." Ed told her, finding his voice and common sense. "I told you, your powers don't exist. It's physically impossible." Something changed in Hazel's eyes, and for a moment, the teen thought that he had finally won. But instead, the girl took a step closer to him. One step turned to two steps, and Ed realized that she was awfully close. Her hands closed over his, both of them, and she leaned forward. She was almost uncomfortably close now, but Edward did nothing to push her away. Something was holding him back. Love? No, again he dismissed it. But if it wasn't love stopping him from pushing her away and running behind a tree to vomit, what was?

Cliffy :D


	5. reunion

WARNING! This has got to be _the _corniest chapter I've written yet... in this story anyway... :shifty eyes:

* * *

It just a small peck, but it was on the lips and Edward blushed at the contact.

"You have to believe in me." Hazel repeated, her expression dead serious. Edward nodded, to stunned to say anything. But the reason he nodded wasn't because of the fact that he had just gotten kissed, it was because something within that kiss convinced him that maybe there was such a thing as psychic powers, that maybe physical possibilities weren't the only things that existed.

"Al? You're in this too." Hazel told him, gesturing that he should come closer.

"Um, okay." Al said, slightly taken aback about what the girl had just done to his brother.

"You want to see your mother. Well, I can't bring her back, but I can at least let you talk to her." Hazel grabbed the brothers' hands and closed her eyes. They stood there like that for awhile until they heard the girl gasp. Ed nearly let go of her hand, but she grabbed onto his tighter so that he couldn't.

Although the brothers didn't know it, Hazel was having another vision. She was seeing everything. Trisha Elric's death, her funeral, the brothers trying to bring her back through alchemy, Al's body disappearing, even Ed getting his automail for the first time. And then... darkness.

"Edward, Alphonse." Hazel's head shot up and she looked at the two. The Elric brothers stared at her in shock. She looked like their _mother_. She had already slightly resembled Trisha, but now... It was Hazel's body, nothing had physically changed in the teenager's appearance, but the boys knew that they were looking at their mother. Her voice even sounded the same.

"Mom?" Ed asked in a barely audible voice. The girl nodded her head, smiling.

"It's me boys."

"Mom!" Al exclaimed, his hand started to slip from her grasp.

"Al! No!" She commanded, causing Al to stop moving immediately. "If you let go of her hand, the connection is gone."

"Oh, mom, it's really you! We have so much to tell you!" Ed said, nearly in tears. He reached around and hugged her, careful not to let go of her hand.

"I know what's happened, my little state Alchemist. I've been watching you two. You're my boys, and I wanted to see you grow up." Her voice was soft and chocked, like Trisha wanted to cry but couldn't make Hazel's body do so.

"Mom, I'm glad you're so proud of Ed." Al spoke up, trying to get his mother to get the hint.

"I've been watching you too Alphonse." She laughed. "You've become quite an accomplished alchemist yourself. I'm so proud of my boys. But..." Her voice suddenly sounded sad.

"What is it mom?" the brothers asked in unison.

"What you two did... to try to bring me back... It wasn't worth it. You two should've never tried it. It's bad enough that you lost and arm and a leg Ed, but Al... My baby... you don't even have a body anymore. When you were born, I imagined what you'd look like as a teenager, but now that you are one..." Her voice trailed off as Hazel's eyes began to water. "Now look, you made Hazel cry." She scolded, obvious sobs in her voice.

"We're going to bring my body back mom, Ed promised me that a long time ago and he's going to keep it, I know he will." Al told her in a determined voice.

"Yeah mom, don't worry. Al's going to have his body back soon enough." Ed reassured her.

"Thank you." she said. "You keep to your promises Edward."

"I will." Ed told her smiling.

"Oh, and remember to drink your milk Ed. You haven't grown too much since I last saw you." She added.

"FROM MY OWN MOTHER NOW?" Ed shouted, but not letting go of her hand.

"Your temper hasn't changed either." She laughed.

"It gets embarrassing sometimes." Al admitted, smiling inside.

"Well boys, it was nice talking to you." She said suddenly.

"What?" Al asked in a confusing tone.

"What are to talking about?" Ed said at the same time.

"I wish I could stay here with you two forever, but I can't. I can't possess people for very long. Just remember I love you both." She told them, smiling pleasantly before falling forward. Ed and Al caught Hazel's body with their free hands.

"Mom? Mom?" Ed called in a frantic tone, shaking Hazel's body. "Mom are you there?" Hazel's eyes opened slowly.

"Mom?" Al asked quietly.

"Did you have a nice chat with your mother?" It was Hazel's voice. The brother's let her go and she stood up.

"Damn." Ed muttered. Hazel heard him and moved her hand to his shoulder.

"I know. You want to keep talking but you can't. It doesn't work that way. A spirit can only possess a human body for a certain length of time. I wish it worked differently too. I know that I hate having to say goodbye to my mother when I talk to her." She said, trying to comfort him.

"Yeah, but this is the first time I've talked to her in years. I miss her." Ed said, his eyes starting to tear up. Hazel gave him a sad smile.

"It's okay Ed." She told him softly, hugging him. "You alright Al?" she asked the younger brother, looking over her shoulder. What she saw surprised her a little. She could've sworn that he was grinning.

"Wow." He gasped in awe. "That really was our mother."

"Well yeah. I told you I could let you talk to her." She laughed, letting go of Ed.

"That was so cool. You really are psychic! Even Ed has to believe it now. Don't you Ed?" Al said everything in one breath, except for the last sentence.

"Well..." Ed wiped his eyes on his left sleeve and thought about it for a moment. He was positive that he had spoken to his mother, there was no way Hazel could have imitated her voice that perfectly. And there was no way she could've known _how_ the two lost everything. "I guess you were right. I'm sorry for not believing in you."

"Damn straight shorty." Hazel mumbled smugly.

"WHAT WAS THAT? I HEARD SHORT!" Ed screamed, all sadness gone. Al chuckled at his brother.

**MEANWHILE!**

"Where is that bitch?" screamed Michael. He had come into Hazel's room to spit more word venom at her when he found that her bed was empty. He had practically beaten every maid in the house when they told her that they had no clue where she was. Now he was in her room again, tearing up everything that he could find.

"When I find her..." He didn't finish his sentence but rather continued searching every nook and cranny in the room.

One maid stood by the doorway just outside the room, hidden by the shadows.She was young, only appeared to be about 17. She had a rather painful black eye forming from Michael's rage. Silently, she slipped away.

**MEANWHILE! (again!)**

Hazel and Ed were lying on the ground, looking up at the stars as Al sat next to them.

"You can't see much." Ed pointed out.

"Well duh, we're in a forest you idiot." Hazel reminded him.

"Well, it's not exactly a forest." Al spoke up.

"Eh, it's close enough." Hazel said. A smile suddenly came to her face. "You know, every night, I usually sneak out of my room to climb up on the roof and stargaze. My room's on the top floor and there's a tiny balcony with a ledge that you can just grab and heave yourself onto. From there it's only a small step to the roof top. I've gotten quite a few scars that way." She laughed at the last sentence. "But you know, it's the only thing my stepfather will let me do. Maybe because my mom used to do it."

"Do you and your mother have a lot in common?" Al asked. "You sure make it sound that way."

"I think so. When I read her diary for the first time, I saw a picture of her in there. We looked a lot alike. Mr. Miller always said I was her spitting image. And we do share a lot of the same interests..." Hazel was cut off by a rather loud snore from Ed. He was lying on his back with one arm across his stomach and the other one off to the side. His metal leg was kicking the air while the foot on the other twitched a few times. Hazel and Al glanced at each other before bursting into giggles.

"MISS HAZEL!" a figure came running towards the three. Ed was suddenly awoken by the cry and he sat up, eyes still half closed.

"May?" Hazel asked as the figure came closer. It was the maid.

"Miss Hazel, your father is looking for you. He's tearing up the house and-"

"May, what happened to your eye?" Hazel asked her, touching it lightly.

"It was your father, but that's not important." She said quickly.

"My father did this?" Hazel sounded disgusted.

"Yes, but that doesn't matter, miss Hazel. What matters now is that your father is tearing up the mansion. If you don't get home soon, who knows what he'll do." May was talking a mile a minute.

"I'm not going back May. Not this time." Hazel told the maid defiantly.

"But miss Hazel," she pleaded.

"NO!" Hazel shouted.

May stomped on Hazel's foot. Not too hard, in fact it didn't really seem like a stomp at all. But Hazel was howling in pain.

"Damn! That hurt!" Hazel was jumping up and down on one foot, holding the other in her hands. The brothers puzzled at it for a moment before noticing a metallic gleam coming from the girl's shoe.

_Everyone has automail around here._ Ed thought.

"Now come on miss Hazel." May grabbed the girl by her wrist and dragged her off. Hazel glanced over her shoulder to look at the brothers one last time before being dragged off into the night by the maid.

After a few minutes, Ed got to his feet and started walking in the direction where the girls had gone.

"Again Ed?" Al sighed.

"I don't want to let her get hurt." Ed told his brother and continued walking. Al smiled inwardly at this and followed his older brother.

* * *

See? Told ya it was corny.

GAH! I'm so sorry that this took so long (my computer's been rather screwy lately).

Note to all: There's only going to be one or two (maybe three) more chapters after this one in this story. But I may make a sequel (I gotta bunch of ideas). If you want me to make a sequel, please let me know in your reviews (at least three needed). THANK YOU!


	6. a fight

This chapter is all violent and shit :D! If you don't like violence, too bad!

"You little bitch!"

Hazel went flying against the wall, hitting it and falling to the ground like a rag doll.

"I'm sorry father." She said in the calmest voice that she could. She was shaking all over and her head was starting to bleed again. "I know I shouldn't have gone out, and I did. I deserve to be punished."

"Exactly. But that's not the only reason why I am punishing you. Do you know the other reason?" Michael asked.

"Because I'm a no good, heartless murderer. I killed my mother the day I was born and deserve to rot in hell." Hazel muttered.

"I didn't hear that last part." Michael told her, standing over her menacingly.

"I deserve to rot in hell." She said a little louder.

"I still can't hear you."

"I DESERVE TO ROT IN HELL!" the girl finally shouted. Over the years she had been taught to say that even though she didn't mean it. She'd only say it to hopefully get a less painful beating.

"That's right." Michael dragged her up by the scruff of her neck. "You deserve to rot in hell for what you did." He then hit her across the face, closed fist. She now had a bloody nose as well as a bloody forehead and an eye was starting to swell up. Not to mention the multiple bruises forming on her arms from him grabbing her.

"So what did you do out there anyway? Play with your alchemist friend? What did you tell him?" He demanded.

"I told him nothing." Hazel said simply, avoiding his eyes.

"Look at me and tell me that!" He shouted, his spit misting her face. She brought her eyes to meet his and didn't like the feeling that came with it.

"I told him nothing." She repeated.

"Don't lie to me bitch!" He shouted, hitting her again. "You know that if he finds out about our little secret, he'll go tell everyone back at his headquarters and we'll lose all of our money."

"Yes father, I know." Hazel said, looking down again.

"Look at me whore!" He shouted, wrapping his hands around her neck and slamming her against the wall. She closed her eyes tightly from the pain. "I said look at me!" He slammed her against the wall again. Tears were starting to fall from her eyes. "Oh, now you're crying! What do you have to cry about? A little pain? This is nothing!"

"Father... I can't breathe..." she choked, hot tears running down her cheeks.

"Good! Now you know how your mother felt when you killed her!" He hollered in her face, slamming her against the wall a few more times.

"I didn't kill her!" Hazel cried hoarsely. Her stepfather's eyes widened and he released her neck. She fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, shaking all over.

"Are you telling me that you didn't kill her?" He asked, complete shock in his voice.

"Yes, I am." Hazel said, wiping the blood oozing out of her nose. "My mother died because she couldn't go through childbirth for some reason. It wasn't me."

"You evil little-" He didn't finish his sentence but started kicking her anywhere he could. A few kicks in the face, a few more in the stomach, once in a spot that made Hazel glad that she wasn't male, and again in the stomach until she threw up.

"That is absolutely disgusting. As a punishment, I want you to eat it." Hazel looked up at her stepfather with a you-must-be-joking face. "Go on. It was just in your stomach, it can go back." He encouraged, although his voice was cold.

Hazel snarled at her father and spit on his shoes.

"THAT'S IT!" He hollered, yanking her up by her hair. "All these years I've been kind enough to house and give you every kind of luxury and this is how you repay me! Well that's it! No more!" He drew a knife out of his pocket and held it to her cheek. "First, I'm just going to show you just what true pain is." He slowly moved it half an inch down her face, and she winced at the pain and sight of blood. Michael removed the knife. "You see, I'm going to that a few more times before I move to your neck." He described, a wicked smile on his face. He started to move his knife towards Hazel's other cheek when May came in.

"You have a guest sir." She announced rather timidly.

"Tell them I'm busy at the moment." Michael commanded.

"But sir, he's a state alchemist. And he has a large suit of armor with him. He says that he wants to speak with Miss Hazel." May explained.

_Edward! _Hazel thought, hope filling her.

"Dammit. Send them in." Michael ordered. May bowed and left as he put away his knife. "You stay here. And don't try to escape this time. I'll know." He told Hazel.

Once he left, Hazel sat against the wall, relieved that Ed had just saved her. She could hear voices coming from downstairs. Mostly her stepfather's booming laugh and occasionally Ed's light one. Once she heard Ed yell from a short joke and Al's armor clanking as he grabbed his older brother to keep him from beating Michael's head in. She wished Al hadn't held him back though.

Then they stopped talking loud enough for her to hear from upstairs, so she lay down and pressed her ear to the floor.

"Is something wrong with her?" She could make out Ed saying.

"Well, n-no. Of course not! Nothing's wrong!" Michael was saying nervously.

"Well then, why can't I see her?" Ed demanded.

"Y-you see, she's had, um, a very hard day today and she's resting at the moment. You know she got shot in the head and all." Michael made up. Hazel smirked at his discomfort.

"It'll only take a second. We just want to see how she's doing. If she's asleep, we promise we won't wake her." She could barely hear Al say. Curse the boy's soft voice.

"No!" She heard Michael bark. "I-I mean, you really shouldn't."

"Why? There isn't anything that you're trying to _hide_ from us, is there?" Ed said in a suspicious voice.

"O-oh, of course not!" came Michael's voice. Hazel had heard him lie to guests before when it came to her, but never had she ever heard such nervousness in his voice. Maybe it was because he was actually going to kill her this time. Or maybe it was because he had never been forced to lie to someone as important as a state alchemist.

"Well then certainly you wouldn't mind if we just went to her room to see how she's doing." Edward said. She heard the clanks of Ed's automail leg and Al's armor as they made their way toward the stairs.

"Her room's upstairs, correct?" Ed asked. Hazel heard Michael's footsteps scurrying up to the brothers multiple times as he tried to think up some excuse to make them leave, but Ed brushed him off. Finally, they approached her door.

"No! You can't go in there!" Michael shouted, just outside the door. "I-it's, um, really messy in there. R-really, she doesn't pick up after herself, the floor is, erm, covered, you see. A-and I can't have a guest such as yourself see my daughter's sloppiness." Hazel snickered at her stepfather's patheticness.

"Surely it can't be that bad. I've seen my brother make much larger messes, I'm sure." Al laughed.

Hazel could tell Michael was about to try to make up another ridiculous excuse so she stood up as straight as she could and opened the door.

"You shouldn't talk about people behind their back." She pretended to scold.

Ed stared at her, gaping. He took a step forward but Michael beat him to it. He reached the girl and punched her hard in the face.

"Hazel!" Al gasped in shock.

"I told you to stay out of the way!" Michael shouted, hitting her again.

"No you didn't." Hazel protested, more courageous now that Ed and Al could see them.

"Smartass bitch!" another hit across the face.

"You bastard! Leave her alone!" Ed shouted, running up to the older man and trying to hold him back. His size made it futile though, so Al came up and held Michael for him.

"I really should report you, you know." Ed told the older man menacingly.

"I don't give a shit. What can they do?" Michael told the boy, smirking.

"Anything that you deserve."(A/N: horrible wording!) Ed spat.

"I mean," Michael pulled a gun out of another pocket, "what can they do if you're dead and can't tell them?"

"Even if I die, Al will still report you." Ed told him.

"Not if I kill him as well." Michael said menacingly.

"Good luck with that." Al said. "I have no body."

"But you have a seal, correct? How else could your soul reside in an empty suit of armor?" Michael was smiling like a madman now.

"But... How did you know?" Al asked, nearly losing his grip on him.

"I used to be an alchemist myself. Until I met Hazel's mother. I gave it up for her. She was scared of it, so I stopped. Alchemy was my passion, but I gave it up for her. Then _that_-" He pointed at his gun at Hazel, "came along and killed her." Michael pulled the trigger. The girl covered her head.

A clang of metal on metal sounded and Hazel looked up to see Ed holding onto her with his flesh arm and protecting them both with his automail one. A smoldering hole in his sleeve showed where the bullet landed.

"Ed..." Hazel whispered, eyes filled with tears of fear and gratitude.

Michael chuckled. Soon, his shoulders started shaking and he burst out laughing hysterically. He fought out of Al's grasp while the boy was off guard and knocked of his helmet and put his gun to the seal.

"Good luck diverting this bullet." He sneered as Al gasped in fear.

"AL!" Ed shouted, letting go of Hazel and reaching out to stop Michael from shooting his brother.

"Halt or I'll shoot." The man threatened. Ed stopped in his tracks.

"Please…" Ed pleaded, not taking his eyes off of the two.

"You'll have to comply with me on a few things." Michael said, his face had gone from maniacal to dead serious.

"What do you want?" Ed asked, hanging his head in defeat, but still looking up with his eyes.

"I want you to leave this town and never come back. This whole day never happened to the two of you, got it? Your superiors are to know nothing of what has happened." Michael told him. Ed nodded. Hazel's eyes widened.

Just outside Hazel's room, May lurked in the shadows. If one had been passing by at the moment, they would notice that she was smirking almost evilly before she turned to go into the room.

"SIR!" May shouted, suddenly appearing in the doorway. Michael looked in her direction for a moment and was distracted just long enough to move the gun off of Al's seal. Ed ran up and latched onto the man's arm.

"Hey! What the-? Let go you little-" He tried jerking his arm in an attempt to get the short teenager to let go, but it didn't work. He tried pulling the trigger a few times, but all it did was put holes in the ceiling. Finally, in a last attempt to get the boy off, Michael jerked his arm particularly hard and both Ed and the gun went flying. The man lost his balance and fell to the floor. Al groped around to find his helmet and eventually did. May dived for the gun and grabbed it.

"Miss Hazel!" she shouted as she threw the gun at the girl. Hazel caught it and pointed it at her stepfather.

"Looks like the tables have been turned _father._" The last word oozed venom. "How does it feel when you're the one staring down the barrel of the gun?"

"Y-you wouldn't." He said, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Wouldn't I? You were about to do this to me." Her face was emotionless.

"O-okay, okay. I-I'll do anything you want." He stuttered.

"All I ask is that the moment I walk out of this room, you will have no part in my life whatsoever from then on." She told him.

"Y-yes. Of course." He agreed, just the tiniest bit of fear showing in his eyes.

"Good." Hazel pocketed the gun and started walking out, motioning for the brothers and May to follow her. The other three got out the door and Hazel was at the doorway when she felt the point of a knife against the back of her neck.

"You gullible bitch." She heard Michael laugh behind her. "As if I would actually agree to what you tell me."

Hazel ducked and turned around, grabbing the knife blade with both hands. There was a flash of alchemical light and the blade became twisted and gnarled, now unable to cut anything. Michael dropped it in shock.

"I noticed the alchemy circle on it just after you cut my face. Why on earth would someone put an alchemy circle on a knife? I don't know. But knowing you, it was meant for something lethal." Hazel said. She then turned on her heel and left the room, leaving her stepfather still staring at the knife in shock.

Moments later, Hazel and the Elric brothers were outside the mansion, making their way back to town.

"What was with that?" Al asked timidly.

"What was with what?" The girl asked innocently.

"You went completely psycho." Ed told her bluntly, peering around Al to look at her.

"Oh that? I was just trying to sound threatening." Hazel laughed. The brothers looked at her as if she had grown an extra nose and then scooted ever so slightly away from her.

The lightheartedness didn't last long however, as they heard something behind them.

"Hazel... I'm sorry." A familiar voice said as they heard a gun cock.

Another evil cliffy! Ya know, this chapter got kind of cheesy at times too.

**NOTICE! **There is only going to be one more chapter after the next one! If you want me to make a sequel, please let me know in your reviews! Thank you!


	7. the betrayal of one once trusted

Mr. Miller stood there, sniper rifle pointed between Hazel's widened eyes.

"I'm sorry," He repeated, averting his eyes from the three. "You really did feel like a daughter to me. But your father's money was just too good to pass up."

"You traitor!" Ed hollered, taking a step toward the man. Hazel's arm shot out to prevent him from going any farther.

"I see." She said quietly. "I understand."

"What? But Hazel, he-" Ed started.

"I know very well what he's done. But understand, Ed. No one buys drinks at Mr. Miller's bar. No one can. My father is the only one with money in this town, and you and Al are the first outsiders to come here in months." Hazel explained, cutting him off.

"Exactly. Not to mention David's automail isn't free. I'm sorry Hazel, but killing you is the only way for me to get the money for him." Mr. Miller dropped the gun to his side, but still didn't dare to look the girl in the eyes.

"But we know someone who makes automail! She can make David's for really cheap if we just tell her about-" Al started.

"'Really cheap' isn't good enough. I have NO money. I can't afford anything." Mr. Miller said, an almost annoyed tone to his voice.

"But there must be some option other than killing her!" Al pleaded. Mr. Miller paid no attention to him and aimed his rifle at the girl's heart.

"I want to make this as quick and painless as possible for you." He muttered. His grip on the trigger tightened until it finally pulled it. Hazel closed her eyes tightly.

A loud clang sounded and for a second, Hazel thought Ed had defended her again. But when she opened her eyes, she saw Al standing in front of her, arms spread wide.

"I can't just stand by and let you kill her." The boy said, his voiced choked but determined. "I've done a lot of standing by and watching in my life, but I'm done now."

"Alphonse." Ed gasped, shocked at his brother's behavior.

"Ed, get Hazel out of here. I buy you as much time as I can." Al continued, shifting the armor into a fighting stance.

Ed said nothing but nodded, grabbing Hazel's wrist and starting to run. As they got farther away, they could hear Al's armor clanking in the distance, trying to prevent Mr. Miller from going after them.

"Where do we go now?" Ed asked as they dashed through the streets.

"Follow me." Suddenly Hazel was leading the way as they twisted through the dusty town, dashing this way and that until...

"What are we doing here?" Ed asked, looking at the door of Mr. Miller's bar. Hazel didn't answer, but walked inside.

"David?" she called loudly. After a few minutes, the boy appeared in the doorway that led to the living quarters above the bar.

"Hazel?" He asked groggily, rubbing an eye. "What are you doing here?"

"David, I need you to do me a really big favor." She said, walking up to him, kneeling so that they were eye-level and grabbing his shoulders.

**MEANWHILE!**

"What the hell!" Mr. Miller exclaimed, trying again to get around the giant bulk of metal that was Alphonse Elric.

"I'm not letting you kill my friend!" Al shouted, blocking the man.

"You don't understand boy! I have to! For my son!" Mr. Miller grunted, trying again to get around. He succeeded for a moment, but Al turned around and grabbed his arm, flinging him back around in front of him. He landed face-first into the ground, causing his nose to bleed and his gun to go flying.

"What would you do? If it was for your brother?" Mr. Miller asked, standing up and wiping off the blood that was currently creeping its way onto his upper lip.

"I wouldn't kill anybody. And even if I did, he wouldn't take it. He wouldn't accept anything that involved killing someone in order to obtain it." Al told him, regaining his fighting stance.

"But wouldn't you do anything you could to help him live as normal of a life as possible?" Mr. Miller asked quietly. "I mean, after watching other kids and even adults stare at him like he wasn't even human, knowing you could do nothing about it and could only imagine how he must feel."

"Think about it, please! I know what it's like to not be normal. Wherever I go, I get weird looks because I'm a walking suit of armor. But I'd never want to kill someone to be human again! My brother was faced with that choice once, but he did the right thing!" Al explained, losing his stance.

Mr. Miller said nothing at that.

"Besides, what would David think? He thinks of Hazel like a sister. To know that his own father killed her, just so that he could have a new arm that will only last a few months." Al said, trying to make the man be sympathetic.

The older man looked at the ground.

"I hadn't thought of that." He said quietly. For a moment Al thought he had gotten through, but then he heard the man speak again. "But..."

"What do you mean but!" Al asked shocked, "You mean you'd still kill Hazel if it meant your own son hating you forever?"

"That's not it. You just don't get it, obviously. But then again, you are just a kid. Maybe you haven't realized yet, but the world revolves around money. I don't just need it for my son's automail. We need it for other things like food and stock for the bar."

Al was silent. That man was persistent. It was almost like he _wanted _to kill Hazel.

"Look, as soon my brother and I leave this town, we're going to report everything we've found here. Hazel's stepfather is going to be arrested and you probably will too. Unless of course you change your mind." Al told the man. Mr. Miller opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a faint cry.

"Daddy!" Came a boy's voice. As it got closer, Mr. Miller recognized the voice as his own son's.

"David? What are you doing out here? It's late, I thought you were asleep!" The man called out. The boy continued running as fast as his little legs could carry him until he stopped in front of his father.

"D-daddy..." The boy stuttered quietly before looking his father in the face. Mr. Miller saw that there were tears streaming down the boy's face.

"David? What's wrong son?" Mr. Miller went to hug him, but the boy pulled away.

"Daddy, please don't hurt Hazel." He said.

"What? What ever gave you that idea?" Mr. Miller asked in the most comforting tone he could.

"We did." Mr. Miller looked up at the two voices that had spoken in unison and saw Ed and Hazel standing there, breathing heavily. Apparently, David could still run despite the fact that he had just been asleep a few minutes earlier.

Mr. Miller stared at the two teenagers, lost for words. Hazel, who was supposed to be dead already, was standing there, completely vulnerable to a bullet. But then again, there was his son, staring up at him with pleading eyes. Not to mention the two boys who seemed to be willing to lay down their lives for her.

_Why?_ Thought the man. _Why do those boys care about her so much? They just met today. What could possibly have happened that would make them devote themselves to her? And as for David..._ He looked down at his son who was still staring up at him.

"Daddy... please." The boy said quietly. The kid looked too pathetic.

"If you really think of Hazel as your daughter, Mr. Miller, how could you even consider hurting her?" Al asked.

The man thought about it in the seemingly endless silence that followed. Like a daughter. David was his son, Hazel was his daughter. He could never hurt David and he could never hurt Hazel.

"Don't worry David. I'm not going to hurt Hazel." He told his son with a smile while kneeling down.

"Yay!" David exclaimed, throwing his arms around his father's neck.

"Come on, let's go home." Mr. Miller said, picking up his son. He walked a few steps and turned back to look at the teens. "Well, are you three coming or not?"

Ed, Al, and Hazel looked at each other and followed. After walking a while, they finally reached the bar. The teens sat down at the bar and waited while Mr. Miller went upstairs to tuck his son in for the second time that night.

"Could he have possibly gotten a change of heart just like that?" Ed whispered to the other two.

"You never know." Hazel whispered back. "Maybe Al actually got to him."

"Hey!" Al sounded offended. The other two quickly shushed him.

"Still, just in case, don't let your guard down." Ed warned. The other two nodded. A few minutes later, Mr. Miller was back. He walked behind the bar and looked at the three.

"I want to thank you." He said. Ed, Al, and Hazel looked at him confusedly. "I almost made a horrible mistake. I don't think I would've been able to live with myself if I had killed Hazel. Not to mention I'd be locked up. What would my son have done in that case? Anyway, thanks again. Ed and Hazel because you brought my son to me. You knew that I would never do anything bad in front of him. And Al, you made me realize what exactly I was doing. You reminded me that I do think of Hazel as a daughter, and as I looked at my real son, I realized that if I could never hurt him, I could never hurt her."

The teenagers looked at the man wide-eyed. He had never spoken like that before. It was weird.

"Th-thank you, Mr. Miller. For changing your mind." Hazel said quietly, not looking him in the eye.

"Okay, off to bed now." Mr. Miller said. "You kids have had a long day."

The three nodded and made their way upstairs for a well deserved sleep.

* * *

I hate this chapter, I really do :stabs it with a plastic spork:. And I really should've given Mr. Miller a first name when I had the chance :sigh: The next chapter is the last one and then I start on the sequel! Which will actually have alchemy in it!

I haven't given up on my other stories, I just put them aside so I could finish this one as quickly as possible!


	8. leaving

"Hello?" Colonel Mustang asked, picking up the phone in his office.

"Hey Colonel, it's me. Just checking in." Came Ed's voice on the other end.

"Have you left that little town yet?" Asked Roy, sounding somewhat annoyed.

"The train should be here any minute. Then I can finally get started on my mission." Ed answered.

Roy sighed heavily and rubbed his temples.

"It's too late for that, Fullmetal. I already sent someone else out there. It's probably best that you just come back to headquarters."

"Um, okay. Sorry about that. I'll be there ASAP." Ed answered nervously, hanging up the phone.

"He'd better be." Roy said, hanging the phone as well.

"Edward is coming?" Riza Hawkeye asked her superior officer.

"Yeah." Roy sighed, resting his forehead in his hand.

**MEANWHILE!**

"Well brother? Are we off to the next town?" Al asked as he saw his brother hang up the phone.

"No. Mustang said we took too long. We have to go back to Central." Ed answered with a sigh.

"But that's not our fault! only one train comes through each day, didn't you tell him that yesterday?" Al said, sounding shocked and appalled at the same time.

"Geez Al, calm down. You sound like mom getting worked up over something." Ed laughed.

"Ed, shh! She can hear you, remember?" Al reminded his brother.

"Heh heh. Yeah, I almost forgot. Sorry mom!" Ed called.

"Hey Ed, it's almost 2 o'clock, isn't it?" Al asked, his voice suddenly sounding sad.

"Yeah." Ed replied, just as sadly.

2 o'clock. The time when he and Al had gotten off the damn train yesterday. "The train comes in and out everyday at the same time." Those were the words Hazel had said the previous day. Was it really almost that time already?

Earlier, after Hazel had been patched up by Mr. Miller, Ed and Al had escorted her back to her stepfather's mansion so she could pack her belongings in order to properly move in with Mr. Miller and David. It didn't take her long, her stepfather didn't care enough to give her more than just enough clothes to make _seem_ like she was being raised properly. Her possessions were few and mostly related to her mother. Although there were a couple books on alchemy that she had packed ("I find the concept intriguing" she had said).

The walk back to Mr. Miller's had been silent. When the brothers watched her walk back into the bar without so much as a goodbye, they figured she was coming back to the train station after she had dropped her things off. But now it didn't look like she was coming. The train could even be heard off in the distance.

"Well Al, looks like we're almost on our way to Central." Ed said sadly.

"Ah, we're going to Central then?" a voice asked. But it wasn't Al. this voice was female. In fact, it sounded like...

"Hazel!" Al called, turning his attention to the girl. Ed looked back to see her. Behind her was Mr. Miller, David, and May.

"You all came to say goodbye to us?" Ed asked, getting a little cocky.

"Well, we did." Mr. Miller said, resting a hand on his son's head.

"Goodbye Miss Hazel." May said, hugging the girl, not hearing Ed.

"Wait, goodbye? Where are you going?" Ed asked, confused.

"Didn't you just say we were going to Central?" Hazel responded, breaking away from May's hug to turn to the elder brother.

"Wait..." Ed thought for a second.

"You're coming with us?" Al asked in a delighted tone, noticing the suitcase that he had just recently seen her pack.

"Of course!" Hazel told him cheerfully.

"But I thought you were going to move in with Mr. Miller. I mean, you did go in the bar after we dropped you off there." Al reminded her.

"I was just stopping in for one last drink. It was really rude of you guys to just leave like that you know. But that doesn't matter now, because I'm coming along with you." Hazel answered cheerfully.

"And who said you could come along?" Ed crossed his arms and stared angrily at the girl.

"Aw, the little shorty doesn't want me to join him? Or is he just nervous about having to stay with a _girl_?" Hazel said with sly grin on her face.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO TINY THAT HE COULD NEVER HANDLE BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF A FEMALE?" Ed hollered at her. Hazel snickered.

"Well then, you'll let me come along if that's case." She said. Ed thought about what he had just said.

"damn." He said quietly, bowing his head in defeat.

"Oh wow, this is so great!" Al exclaimed excitedly.

"Just one question though." Ed realized, looking up. "Where are you going to put that suitcase?"

"This? Well, I suppose I don't really need it anymore since I emptied out the clothing." Hazel said, looking at it.

"Why did you do that?" Ed asked suspiciously.

"This is the only outfit that really fits me." Hazel said, looking down at her clothes. "I'm only keeping the suitcase because I need to put the books _somewhere_."

"We'll buy you a book bag once we get to central!" Al said excitedly.

"What? Now wait just a minute Al, we are NOT wasting our funds over _her_." Ed argued.

"Will you two shut up? The train's here!" Hazel called out, getting on. The brothers looked up to realize that there was indeed a train there and scrambled to board it before it left.

"Bye bye Hazel, come back and visit someday!" David called, running up to the window that the girl was sticking her head out of.

"I will. Bye now David. Bye Mr. Miller, bye May!" she called as the train started pulling out. She and Ed waved goodbye until the platform was out of sight (Al wouldn't fit in the window).

As soon as the train was no longer visible, David burst into tears.

"Oh, David stop crying, she'll come back." Mr. Miller tried to comfort his son. The boy didn't seem to hear him.

"Master David, please don't cry. Your father is right, Hazel is coming back." May reassured the boy.

"But not for a long time." David said, pouting.

"You know, when she comes back, she's probably going to have a present for you. Not to mention all of the exciting stories she'll have to share. Just think about that." Mr. Miller tried. David's face lit up at that.

"Okay daddy!"

**MEANWHILE!**

Hazel opened her eyes.

"Looks like you're going to have to buy more than just a bag for me Ed." She said suddenly. The boy jumped at her voice, he had assumed that she fell asleep.

"What do you mean?" Ed asked.

"Mr. Miller just promised David that I'd come back with a present for him." She told him, smiling out the window, ready for her new life with her new friends.

* * *

It's over! OVER! Although, the last sentence completely sucks. Hey, it's late and I'm tired and I couldn't think of anything else other than that cheesy line. LIVE WITH IT!

Meh, this is a short chapter... and you know, the last seven chapters actually all took place on the same day. I've never done that before. Wow.

And just to tell ya'll, the sequel is going to take a while, because I need to catch up on my other fanfics. Until then!


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